Quality of Life Comparisons Among Developed Nations - An Introduction

Policy Areas

An Introduction

Internationalcomparisons.org compares different quality of life factors among the major developed nations throughout the world.

Using statistics and data from various sources, we compare such standard quality of life indicators as Basic Education, Car Usage, Child Welfare, Health Care, Economy, Environment, Crime, Gender Equality, Higher Education, Housing, Population, and more, to see how the United States compares to major developed nations. With this information, we will test the follow hypothesis:

The United States is the least developed of the developed countries in most areas. The US has high personal income, high productivity, large houses, and ample higher education, however, it is the most militarized nation, has the highest population growth, the most uneven distribution of income, mediocre basic education, the lowest health status, the highest health care costs, much higher crime, less leisure time, more abortion & teen pregnancy, and a lower status for women. The United States is the least environmentally sustainable of the developed nations, the most polluting, and the most dependent on fossil fuel.

Sherman Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Political Science
California State University East Bay, Hayward
sherman@csuhayward.us

Dustyn Bindel, Research Assistant

Multidimensional indices

Political indices

International indices

Social indices

Environmental indices

Economic indices

In 1957 10 European countries signed the Treaty of Rome forming the EU. By 2007 the EU had 27 countries and 490 million people. The EU has a unified currency (the Euro, with the exception of the U.K.), open borders, free trade, free capital and a coordinated foreign policy. The EU requires applicants to meet requirements for democracy and institutional reform.

This guide has no international information about race because international statistics are hard to find and because class and ethnic conflict are much more important. I agree with Wolff et al. (see Human Development Index sources):

"…society's most visible problems do not stem primarily from race; they stem from poverty…. The poor, both black and white, share the same approximate rates of crime, welfare, teenage and single parenthood, substance abuse and other social problems." Discrimination related to race increases poverty among minorities, but America's statistics for whites are worse than Europe's. Despite growth of an American black middle and upper class, American blacks in general are doing worse than whites in health, education, crime, and income. American Hispanics and Indians also have serious poverty problems, while Asian Americans are generally even with whites.